Stability in aggression revisited Alex R. Piquero a, ⁎, Michael L. Carriaga a , Brie Diamond a , Lila Kazemian b , David P. Farrington c a University of Texas at Dallas, United States b John Jay College of Criminal Justice, United States c Cambridge University, United Kingdom abstract article info Article history: Received 24 January 2012 Received in revised form 23 February 2012 Accepted 15 March 2012 Available online 10 April 2012 Keywords: Aggression Continuity Stability Research on the stability of aggression tends to show patterns of continuity and to a lesser extent discontinu- ity. In this study, we provide a review of research published in four specific journals that target the stability of aggression across distinct periods of the life course. Findings from these studies identify considerable support for both instability and stability of aggression, but with some unique findings related to aggression among fe- males as well as adult-onset aggression. The review closes with an original empirical analysis using longitu- dinal data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development linking teacher-rated aggression in childhood/adolescence to official conviction records in mid-adulthood, the findings of which suggest a strong degree of continuity in aggression/antisocial behavior among the most aggressive youths/chronic offenders. Conclusions and directions for future research are also discussed. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365 2. Stability of aggression in childhood and adolescence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366 2.1. Stability across early childhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366 2.2. Stability from childhood to adolescence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366 2.3. Stability through adolescence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367 2.4. Gender and stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367 2.5. Heredity of stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367 2.6. Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367 3. Stability of aggression across the life course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368 3.1. Stable trajectories of aggression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368 3.2. Instability of aggression across the life course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368 3.3. Adult-onset aggression. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369 3.4. Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369 4. Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371 1. Introduction A key finding in the study of aggression is that of a remarkably strong correlation between childhood, adolescent, and adult aggres- sion (Olweus, 1979). This finding has been replicated across a wide range of longitudinal studies comprising an array of samples, time pe- riods, measurement strategies, and geographic locations (Loeber & Hay, 1997). Reports of the stability of aggression across different studies further show that the magnitude of the coefficients increases by early adolescence and that from early adolescence onward, aggres- sion becomes more stable over time (Loeber, 1982). 1 It is not Aggression and Violent Behavior 17 (2012) 365–372 ⁎ Corresponding author at: University of Texas at Dallas, Program in Criminology, 800 West Campbell Rd., GR31, Richardson, TX 75080-3021, United States. Tel.: + 1 972 883 2482; fax: +1 972 883 6572. E-mail address: apiquero@utdallas.edu (A.R. Piquero). 1 Throughout our review, we consider two types of stability, relative and absolute. The former focuses on rank ordering of aggression between individuals while the latter focuses on levels of aggression within individuals. There could be relative stability co- inciding with absolute change if the average level of aggression decreased but the rank ordering of individuals was constant (and vice versa). A decrease in average aggression is not necessarily evidence of a decrease in relative stability although it is evidence of a decrease in absolute stability. 1359-1789/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2012.04.001 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Aggression and Violent Behavior